Corn-harvester.



No. 788,736. PATENTED MAY 2, 1905. J. B. STRAIGHT.

CORN HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1903.

3 SHEET8-SHEET 1.

PATENTED MAY 2, 1905.

J. B. STRAIGHT.

CORN HARVESTER.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 7. 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHBBT 2.

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k W l No. 788,736 PATENTED MAY 2, 1905. J. B. STRAIGHT.

CORN HARVESTER.

APPLIOATIOH FILED APR. 7. 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

T/VEJJEJ INVENTOF,

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Patented May 2, 1905.

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JAMES B. STRAIGHT, OF BATES CITY, MISSOURI.

COHN MARVESTIEW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 788,736, dated May 2,1905.

Application filed April 7,1903. $e1'ial No. 151,483.

To all whom. 77;; m/rr/y concern:

Be it known that JAMES B. S'rR/uen'na citizen of the United States,residing at Bates City, in the county of Lafayette and State ofMissouri, have invented new and useful improve ments in Coi'n-l-larvesters, of which the .following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of COIH' harvesters in which the cornis cut by a knife carried by a suitable vehicle and the corn is manuallycollected and deposited upon a tilting shock-holder oi"dropper, afterwhich the vehicle is stopped and the shock is manually tied.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure l. is a right-hand side elevationof a harvester embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of thesame, a cross-beam 49 being omitted. Fig. 3 is a transverse verticalsection taken on line (7/ l) of Fig. 1 looking toward the rear.

The frame of the harvester consists of longitudinal sills 1 2, which aresecured to the under side thereof, as indicated by dotted lines on theupper side of said platform, as seen at Fig. 2, connected bycross-pieces 3, 4, 5, and 6. The sills 1 2 are supported by any suitablerumling-gear.

Bolted to the right-hand sill 1 are two depending hangers 7, the lowerends of which are connected by hinges 8 to the inner edge of thecutter-platform 9. The outer edge of this platform is supported bycaster-wheels 1.2. A knife 13 for severing the stalks is rigidly securedto the outer edge of platform 9 and set obliquely, as shown.

17 is a guide for raising bent-over stalks of corn to upright position.This guide is secured to a sill of platform 9 and is braced by a rod 18and a post 19.

Connected by hinges to the back of platform 9 is a trailing platform 14,the rear end of which is supported by wheels 16.

Platform 9 may be raised and lowered by means of a crank .27 on a shaft27, on which are drums 26, to which are secured ropes 25, the lower endsof said ropes being secured to said platform. The bearings of shaft 27are secured to posts 28, which are secured to the right-hand Slll 1.

When the trailing platform 14 is not in use, it may be turned over uponthe cutter-platform 9 in the position shown by dotted lines, Fig. 2.

The rear two cross-pieces 3 4 project past the right-hand sill 1.Between said crosspieces is a tilting dropper 23, which is pivoted onpins or bolts 24, passing through the outer ends of said cross-pieces 34. The right hand end of the dropper extends past said cross-pieces, asshown, so that the weight of a shock will come partly outside of saidpivots 24.

The dropper 23 is raised and lowered by ropes 29, attached to itsleft-hand end, pass ing up around rollers 30 and down aroundwinding-drums on a shaft 33, having a crank 34. The shaft 31 of saidrollers 30 passes through two posts 32, connected to their tops by across-beam 49. The bearings of shaft 33 are secured to said posts. Theupper shaft 31 may of course be mounted in bearings instead of passingthrough said posts.

Planted on the rear cross-piece 3 and set about midway between the sills1 and 2 is a post 36, the purpose of which is to prevent the stalks fromfalling off the rear end of the dropper. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, post36 is connected to an inclined brace 45, which extends from cross-piece3 to the front post 32.

38 is a lever fulcrumed on a bolt 39, that passes through the left-handsill 2. Secured to the lower end of said lever is one end of a rope 40,which is used for compressing the shocks before they are wired. Thisrope is passed over a roller 42 (held between posts 43) and laid acrossthe dropper 23. In its opposite end is a loop 41 or its equivalent.

51 is the drivers seat, and 52 is a platform secured to cross-pieces 4,5, and 6.

The tall posts 32 are braced, respectively, by braces 44 and The forwardpost 28 is braced by a brace 48. Bolted to the front portion of sill lis a forwardly-projecting beam 20, and extending from the front end ofthis beam to sill 10 of the cutter-platform 9 is a chain 21, whichrelieves the hangers 7 from strain and tends to equalize the draft uponsaid platform 9.

The harvester is drawn by horses, and the harvester is operated asfollows: Two men are employed besides the driver. The driver stands onplatform 52, while the other two men stand on platforms 9 and 14:. Asthe stalks are severed by the knife 13 the two men take turns atthrowing it upon the dropper 23, butts to the right. When the shock hasbecome large enough to be bound, the driver passes the rope 40 .over theshock and under the roller 42 and places its looped end ll over a hook50, secured to the lower end of the lever 38. He then pushes back thehandle of the lever until the stalks are as tightly compressed asnecessary and the wires are connected around the shock, they having beenlaid upon the dropper 23 before the stalks were piled. The driverdisengages the loop .41 of rope 40 from the book 50 and throws the endof the rope across the dropper to the position shown in Fig. 2. Then thedropper is tilted by winding its ropes 29 upon the drums 35, thetrailing platform 14 is raised out of the way, and the shocks slide offthe dropper. Other wires are placed upon the dropper, and the harvesteris ready to out another shock.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is*

1. In a corn-harvester, a frame, a dropperplatform mounted pivotally onsaid frame, a

drivers platform adjacent thereto, a lever fulcrumed on said frame andextending above and below the drivers platform, a rope having one endsecured to the lower end of said lever and a loop at its opposite end,and a hook on the lower end of said lever for engaging said loop,whereby said rope may be passed around a shock upon said dropperplatformand its looped end connected to said hook, substantially as described.

2. In a corn-harvester, a frame, a dropper mounted pivotally thereon, alever fulcrumed on said frame, a rope having one end secured to thelower end of said lever and a loop at its opposite end, a hook on thelower end of said lever for engaging said loop, and a roller 42 locatedat one side of the dropper, between the dropper and said lever, wherebyashock may be compressed by passing said rope over said roller, aroundthe shock, back under the roller, connecting its looped end to saidhook, and operating said lever, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI aflix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

JAMES B. STRAIGHT.

l/Vitnesses:

I. F. HEREFORD, GEo. A. CAMPBELL.

